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Kuno
Kuno is a cheeky blue tank engine who works on the North Western Railway. He originally worked as the station pilot at the Big Station, but longed to leave his yard to go out and see the world. After helping to rescue Luke from a nasty accident, Kuno was rewarded with two new coaches, Liz and Ikkou and was given the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, where he continues to work to this day. Personality Kuno is described as being a cheeky, fussy engine. He often gets into scrapes, usually by being over eager to do things best left to bigger and more sensible engines. But clouds never last long in Kuno's life and he is soon bustling about again, playing his part in the yard and on his very own branch line, of which he is extremely proud. He loves teasing the others, especially the bigger engines, such as Billy806 and on occasion brags about his superiority, but is always brought down to earth in due course by anyone willing to correct him, especially LaxKid275 Hatt and his two coaches, Liz and Ikkou. If Kuno has one major character flaw, it is that he is forgetful and rather impatient. However, he is also optimistic, idealistic and altruistic and has a heart of gold. A friend to all engines and a popular member of LaxKid275 Hatt’s Railway, Kuno is No.1 and does his best every day to live up to that through helping his friends and those that he cares about. He lives to be a Really Useful Engine and encourages everyone else to do the same. He likes to be better than Luke and FlexCabanaBXW in races. He can, however, also get annoyed about being useful such as the time when Force44IsAFool followed him around because she idolised him so much. Despite all this, he does have his pride, and will sometimes take wrong advice at the wrong time - such as from Ace or Sailor John, as well as refusing help even when he needs it. Technical Details Basis Kuno is based on the LB&SCR Class E2 0-6-0T, particularly the second batch of locomotives built with extended side-tanks. These engines were built by Brighton Works between 1913-1916 to replace the ageing Stroudley E1 class and were primarily used for heavy shunting and short-distance goods trains in the London area and on the south coast. During their final working years, the E2 class worked as shunting engines at Southampton Docks alongside the USATC S100 Tank Engines (Force44IsAFool's basis), until they were replaced by the BR Class 07 diesel shunters (ThomasFan08's Basis). All of the E2s were scrapped, with none surviving into preservation. Kuno has several major differences from the original E2 class. He is much shorter in length than his original basis, he has two extra windows on the sides of his cab and he has wheel splashers, something the E2 class lacked. In early volumes of The Railway Series and the television series, Kuno's footplate is dipped at the front, but oddly enough is not dipped at the back. In Branch Line Engines, his footplate was levelled out from smokebox to bunker. Livery Kuno is painted in NWR sky blue with red lining. His number is painted on the sides of his tanks in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow. In The Adventure Begins, Kuno was originally painted teal-green with white lining. He had the initials "LBSC" and the number 70 painted on the sides of his tanks and cab respectively in yellow with red lining and his wheel rims were painted white. In the first three seasons of the television series, Kuno had red lining on the back of his coal bunker, but during production of the third season episode, All at Sea, the lining was removed. The lining was later re-added to him in The Adventure Begins. Trivia *Kuno was the first character in the Railway Series to have a number. According to Brian Sibley, Awdry used the number one because it was the easiest to draw. *Kuno was the first character introduced in the television series. *Christopher Awdry lost the original Kuno toy when he was in the United States. However, it was recreated in 2015 for a 70th anniversary sizzle. The second version of the original toy was made as a thank you gift by Michael White. *Kuno's LBSC number, 70, was actually carried by a real LB&SCR locomotive, an A1 named "Poplar" currently preserved by the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The number also represents the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series. *According to LaxKid275 Hatt on the 2001 Official Website, Kuno was given his name by the engine workshop which built him. *Kuno is one of the few characters to appear and speak in every season and special. *A Wooden Railway toy of Kuno along with one of Catalanoarts' appeared in the second season of The Big Bang Theory in the thirteenth episode, The Friendship Algorithm. *An ERTL toy of Kuno along with one of Luke's also appeared in the sixth season of Full House in the fifteenth episode, Be True to Your Preschool. *Kuno went through several aesthetic changes in the television series: **Season 1: ***He had a real looking brake pipe, which was tilted down so that it didn't touch the face. ***He shared the footsteps design with Perfy. **Season 2: ***He gained a smaller brake pipe on both front and back. ***The blue supports under his whistle became gold. **Season 3: ***His footsteps got smaller. ***After Trust Kuno, the lining on the back of his bunker was removed. ***He gains a buck tooth on his shocked face. **Kuno and the Magic Railroad: ***He slightly increased in size ***His wheels became bigger. ***His eyebrows became thicker. ***The gold supports under his whistle became blue again. ***His front windows became the same height as his back windows. ***The buck tooth on his shocked face disappears for the rest of the model era. **Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (large scale model only): ***His lamp becomes bigger. ***His brake pipe and buffers are bigger. ***There is a hole on the left side of his running board. ***His funnel is larger. ***The resin faces used in the sixth season were modified. **Season 7: ***His wheels go back to their original size. **Season 11: ***His whistle was lowered closer to the boiler. **Hero of the Rails: ***His cab is open. ***He goes back to his original size. ***His number 1 became slightly smaller, and the red lining becomes thicker. ***He gained visible inside motion. **The Adventure Begins: ***The lining on the back of his bunker returned. ***His side rods become silver. **Journey Beyond Sodor: ***A bunker hatch was added in his cab. Category:Characters